42 POLITICAL scn:Ncr:,
comparison. The aristocratic qualities of ('.irthaKC ar<* obvi-
ous from what has been said, ami its place is amon^ those
republics, all whose institutions are intended f»»r peace, but
which betake themselves to war in mdrr to M*ctitr commer-
cial advantages. For the purjwrK **f uar lh« y find it mrcrv
sary to employ mercenary troops, \\nae and Carthage
were equally forced intothi**; Nuinidian-* and Ihrnans com-
posed the armies of this republic, much as tin* snldii rs gath-
ered by condottieri composed llioM.* of \\nur, linrnilcar
made his mad attempt in become a tyrant in ( aitha^v with
the help of mercenaries in the time of A^atlhnUs ami at the
end of the peace of 24* H.c. (=- 5*3 * * *'•! ^ilh lb«' K«*m.tns
a most formidable war, threatening the very rsislcttcc of
Carthage, broke out against, the hired troops and ihr Africans
who made common cause with them, (l'ulyh>9 i.» ^»5 miw,)
The democracy neither at Carthage nor at Witter lia«l jjrcat
strength or power of combination, Vet the
People* t*»»« •« * * t *
pnnctpai leaders in the war* witlt Komc, the
war party, had the people as their support, while the peace
or oligarchic party was .strong in the council of unc hundred
and the senate,
We may add that Aristotle scerm to have estimated too
highly the constitution of Carthage. But ii* faults and the
faults of a commercial aristocracy, such a* it WHAV become
apparent from the events of the century after that great
philosopher's death*
Carthage, being a mercantile aristocracy, had the jealousies
which rivals in trade call forth, The other Phcnician colonies
came under its control, or stood in the relation of allies whose
friendship could not be trusted, Thus, Utica sectm to have
always been jealous or hostile toward the more powerful
state, and Gadcs was willing to desert the Carthaginian cause
by making peace with Rome. The foreign possessions of
Carthage, besides those in Spain, and along the African coast,
lay on the islands of Sardmia and Corsica; the Balearic Isl-
ands came under its jurisdiction, and it long contended with
tita Greeks for the dominion of Sicily.